Final Goodbyes
by Derringers
Summary: Vash comes back after the fight with Knives, and becomes content when everything gets back to normal. Until the day Knives fully recovered. One shot, anime based


**Final Goodbyes **

As Vash walked along the desert, on his way to the Insurance Girls and where they waited for him so anxiously, he spotted the small town. It was dark, but his keen senses told him so that a silhouette of a person was sitting on a bench near the fountain. He propped Knives, his brother, higher on his shoulder, making his way to the small silhouette. It was then that the head of the person looked up and acknowledged the gunman. Her cool gray eyes shined with tears as the girl approached Vash, slowly. No word was spoken when they stood before each other, and no expression was made. Until,

".. Vash..." The tall gunman smiled softly at hearing his name being spoken by the small Insurance Girl. His smile faltered, though, when the girl wrapped her arms around him, burying her face into his black body suit and sobbing. He nearly dropped his brother to the ground, surprised at Meryl's sudden reaction. After awhile, Vash relaxed and placed his prosthetic arm over the small of her back and pressed her against him.

"Meryl..."

It had been one week already, and Knives seemed almost in a coma, for he had not awoken since then. The days passed quickly by, Meryl offering to pay a room for Vash and his brother, hers and Milly's being next to the twins'. During the days, Knives thinned gradually, because of his inability to eat at all. Milly felt worried that he may die if he were to wake up any later than the present time.

Now it was but a normal day when Meryl entered the room to check up on Knives. A shock of electricity seemed to run through the small girl when she noticed Vash's twin was nowhere to be seen. She ran out frantically, passing by Milly who was in the kitchen and stopped her share of breakfast at seeing Meryl's urgency.

The two girls were out of the apartment building just in time to see Vash and Knives facing each other. Knives looked frail and weak, but the coldness in his eyes had shown a strength surpassing that of a normal human. He held a gun in his right hand, not his, but an innocent man's own, Meryl noticed. The man whom he had taken the gun from was now lying on the ground, blood spattered across the wall of a building his body was leaning against.

Vash's eyes showed pure anger, although it was apparent that he was of a good nature compared to his twin. Knives smiled cynically, raising the gun slowly. It seemed that the brothers didn't notice Milly and Meryl to be there, so they simply stood watching.

She thought to herself, Vash will dodge the bullet, won't he? Her thoughts were cut off, nearly screaming as a shot was heard. A body fell to the ground, and there lay Milly, her eyes blank and lifeless. The small girl placed a hand over her mouth as she fought to hold back the tears. Her own best friend, and only friend before she met Vash, was lying dead before her. She traced the invisible cord toward Knives, finding out that he was the one to fire the fatal shot. He simply grinned, no show of pity or emotion, just pure bliss as he eyed his now-dead prey.

"How could you?" Meryl's voice shook as tears finally escaped from her eyes. Knives eyed the small girl, which caused her to freeze at the direct eye contact. His eyes were too cold to be human, or even a living being at that. She was pulled back into reality, though, when Knives suddenly turned his gun on his brother. Vash was preoccupied with mourning for the dead Insurance girl, so it was up to Meryl.

Yet another shot was fired.

Vash looked just in time, to see the body of another fall to the ground. His eyes widened as he saw the scene before him. The small girl seemed to fall gracefully, as that fall led to her own death. She smiled contently as her attention was turned to Vash. For a brief moment, he saw a flood of emotions run through those soft gray eyes. What stood out the most, though, was love. Something suddenly clicked inside of the tall gunman. He realized, then, that Meryl loved him just as much as he had loved Rem.

He saw Rem through Meryl, like before, and this all happened within a fraction of a second. Her eyes shut as the girl's head connected with the sandy ground.

"Fifty-two years since that day, Meryl. Since the day you sacrificed your life for mine. I was so blind, I should've noticed... that... you loved me." Vash stood before three graves, the one he was directly facing having the name 'Meryl Strife' etched onto the stone. The other two donned the names 'Millions Knives' and 'Milly Thompson'. He looked the same as the day all three died, but his hair was almost covered in the color black, instead of that golden blonde he used to have. His red coat was abandoned long ago already, as well as his gun, right after the fight with Knives. He wore the normal style of Gunsmoke's inhabitants, and his hair was left ungelled and a bit unkempt.

He killed his brother, being blind with fury and rage at what the twin had done. He regretted this now, since he knew that he would've been able to put Knives out of submission without having to kill him.

"I'm ready to die, you know. I believe that the people of Gunsmoke don't need me to meddle with them anymore," A chilling laugh escaped his lips as he said those words, then continued, "I want to see you all again, and Wolfwood, and Milly... Knives even. I hope I'm greeted with enthusiasm, so throw me a party when I get there."

His words seemed happy, but a hint of utter sadness was evident in them. "I guess... this should be the last time I see your graves, everyone. I bet I'm a bother to you all since I've been visiting you from the day you died. A final goodbye to my friends, and brother." He turned around, without so much as another word nor a glance to the graves.


End file.
